BGT DANCE FAKE GETS BAD BREAK; Fred must pay back pounds 3k benefit.Byline: ROD CHAYTOR A PENSIONER PENSIONER. One who is supported by an allowance at the will of another. It is more usually applied to him who receives an annuity or pension from the government. who claimed benefits for a bad leg was rumbled when he dazzled Britain's Got Talent Britain's Got Talent is a British television show on ITV (also on TV3 in Ireland). Presented by Ant & Dec, the talent show premiered on 9 June 2007, and was broadcast daily with a live final on 17 June 2007. viewers with his break-dancing skills. Fred Bowers, 74, reached the show's semi-finals with his energetic bodypopping routine, which included spinning on his head. But the Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (or DWP) (Welsh: Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau) is the largest government department in the Government of the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001, from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and was less impressed - because Fred was claiming pounds 50 a month in Motability allowance for having a poorly leg. Earlier this year, officials stopped the money, which was used to pay for his car. And now the old soldier, of Sutton Bonnington, Leics, has been ordered to pay back pounds 3,000. Fred yesterday denied he had fiddled his benefits and added: "I was overpaid o·ver·pay v. o·ver·paid , o·ver·pay·ing, o·ver·pays v.tr. 1. To pay (a party) too much. 2. To pay an amount in excess of (a sum due). v.intr. To pay too much. but it was a mistake by the social. "I'd never do anything dishonest. There was just a mistake and I was getting more than I should have done. I always said I would pay back anything I was found to owe." Officials launched an inquiry after receiving an anonymous tip-off following Fred's TV appearances. Fred, who will take five years to clear his debt, said he has had to get rid of his car. The ex-gardener now has an agent and is currently negotiating over a potential spot on German TV. He said: It wasn't nice to be accused of fiddling. But I won't let one bad experience ruin it all. "I just want to show elderly and disabled people can do something amazing. I still feel I have a lot of dancing left in me." CAPTION(S): BODY-POPPER OAP Fred Bowers |
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